The Queen is producing her own sparkling wine

Just when you thought the Queen might be thinking about winding down - she is 90 years old after all - she only goes and announces her newly-minted status as a vintner.

The monarch's Windsor Estate revealed in a statement that they are launching a Chardonnay champagne, the Windsor Vineyard 2014, made from their own vineyards on Windsor Great Park. Wine merchants Laithwaites leased four hectares of land from the Crown Estate in 2011, planting 16,700 vines of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier grapes.

The 3000 bottles made available earlier this week for pre-order on Laithwaites website have already sold out, as did the first run of the released over Christmas.

Priced at the princely sum of £35 each, (approximately $60 Australian dollar) production is set to reach approximately 20,000 a year over the next 10 years.

Next Monday, February 6th, sees the Queen celebrate being the first British monarch to reach 65 years on the throne. No prizes for guessing what kind of bottles she'll be popping to celebrate.

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